Events occurring during general anesthesia may require CO2 absorber bypass. Included in these events would be situations in which the absorber granule indicator change has alerted the anesthesiologist to the need for canister replacement. In an extremely urgent situation such as malignant hyperthermia (MH) it is imperative to bypass the absorber canisters in the shortest time possible. The device according to an aspect of the present invention can be utilized whenever CO2 absorber bypass is indicated and desirable.
Normally during anesthesia exhaled gases are conducted to the CO2 absorber while fresh gases are conducted to the patient during inhalation. Exhaled gases having been absorbed by the canisters exit the absorber and are joined with incoming fresh gases and return to the patient thereby starting a new cycle.
In present day anesthesia machines, the patient circuit prevails and exists commercially in several versions. Generally, the two limb circuit version comprises separate inhalation and exhalation limbs. A second version conducts the inhaled gases toward the patient via a manifold tube and enters a coaxial circuit in which fresh gases are conducted through an inner concentric tube while the exhaled gases are conducted through an outer concentric tube. There are other versions of anesthesia delivery utilizing absorbers and wherever bypassing the absorber is indicated the invention will suffice.
Perusal of the internet for patents in the same field of endeavor reveals the following:
A) W. C. Hamilton Mar. 2, 1954 Filed, Jun. 7, 1952 U.S. Pat. No. 2,693,181. This intra-canister container bypass requires complete overhaul or substitution of an apparently intricate, costly device, which has not been exhibited at anesthesia national conferences.B) Chen et al United States Patent Application Publication Pub. No.: US 2009/0056720 A1 Pub. Date: Mar. 5, 2009. “Apparatus for Installing or Uninstalling Carbon Dioxide Absorbent Canister . . . comprises a body, a lifting member, and a lifting mechanism”. This intra-canister container mechanism reveals an obviously radical, costly departure from standard commercially available devices, wherein currently the CO2 absorbent canisters are disposables, this device requires a complete overhaul of prevailing practice. Like “A”, this patent has not been marketed to practitioners of anesthesia.
Neither of these patents have claims for pre- or post-canister container sites. Both prior art bypass attempts require both hands to be utilized during the maneuvers. The bypass according to an embodiment of the present invention can be accomplished using one hand or, when utilized automatically, neither hand.